Page 44 of Rock Bottom Girl

“What if I think I’m a lost cause?” I asked.

“You don’t,” Andrea said, finishing the last scrap of lettuce on her foil. “And neither do I.”

“What does my mom say about my sister?”

Andrea grinned. “Oh, she’s worried about Zinnia, too. Thinks she’s too focused on success and the outward appearance of it. But we decided to tackle you first.”

* * *

I leftAndrea’s office feeling unsettled and nearly walked right into Jake’s broad chest. Too bad it was covered by a sexy button-down today. Damn. He had the sleeves rolled to the elbows. I liked that.

“Long time, no see, Mars,” Jake said, hitching an eyebrow.

What was he expecting? A confession of what he’d nearly caught me doing last night?

“Uh. Yeah.” My verbal abilities were failing me.

“Missed you at lunch,” he said.

“Are you flirting with me?” I asked.

“If you have to ask, then I’m not doing a very good job.”

Everything that came out of Jake’s mouth sounded like it was suggestively threatening. No wonder his female—and some of his male—students were in a constant lather.

If I had to sit in a classroom and watch him—

“Hello? You in there?” He tapped me on the forehead.

I swatted his hand away. “Uh, yeah. I was just wondering what kind of teacher you are.”

“You have a free period next, don’t you? Why don’t you swing by? Do some observing?”

Hmm. Tempting.

“I have an away game today. Rain check?”

“Soon then,” he said with a flash of dimple. “I’ll save you a seat.”

20

Marley

Iforgot how much I hated school buses. The vinyl seats smelled like farts, and the suspension made me feel like I was enjoying a leisurely cruise in a tank over desert boulders. My internal organs were bruised, and I felt queasy. But at least the girls were in good spirits.

Vicky was sound asleep in the seat across from me, her mouth open, daintily snoring.

Natalee, my cute Korean striker, slid into the seat behind me. “Okay, so we didn’t want to miss all the fun, so Leslie’s cousin Brad is at the stadium, and he’s going to record it.”

“I thought we weren’t going to tell anyone about this.” I glanced around the bus before remembering that Lisabeth had been on the absentee roster today. Apparently, she had parents who felt she didn’t actually need to attend school.

“Brad isn’t going to tell anyone. He hates Tyler on the varsity team because Tyler told Mr. Vandish that Brad was copying off of his trig test when really it was Tyler copying Brad.” Natalee was extremely well-informed, and I was probably already fired.

“I hope he’s at least subtle about it,” I said dryly, but I moved closer to peer at Natalee’s phone. It was 3:29. My fingers danced on the clipboard that held the first quarter’s lineup. We were playing the Huntersburg Bees. A warm, fuzzy name for a team that systematically dismembered its opponents. The Huntersburg Bees were from an all-girls private school. To get to them, it was a forty-five-minute drive through Amish country. But the peace-loving Amish weren’t enough to dilute the Bees.

They were as evil as teenage girls could get. At least, that’s how I remembered them after they trounced us on the soccer field every single time.

Was I nervous about my very first game as a soccer coach? Hell yes. Did I think there was a possibility that this prank would get me fired? Definitely. Especially since everyone was waving their phones around talking about vandalism and breaking and entering. High school-aged girls were not good at keeping secrets.